Japanese Lower House Campaigns in Transition: Manifest Changes Or Fleeting Fads‪?‬

Electioneering for the Japanese Lower House has undergone significant changes in recent years. While voter mobilization strategies still figure prominently in the local-level campaigns of individual candidates, political parties increasingly use voter-chasing strategies at the national level. Such chasing strategies, whose manifestations in Japan have so far included the manifesto and the media-spin approach, target in particular the growing number of independent voters. The concurrence of elements of continuity and change in electioneering has led to a "hybridization" of Lower House election campaigns. The article examines this phenomenon in the light of newer conceptual and theoretical approaches to electoral politics in democratic settings. KEYWORDS: election campaigning, mixed-member electoral system, voter targeting, voter mobilization, voter chasing, manifestos, Japan